Killing Social Security, with a smile

9:56 AM,
Nov. 29, 2012

Froma Harrop

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Froma Harrop

Conservatives never much liked Social Security. It's a wildly popular government program that's totally solvent until 2033. It will be easily fixable and by then may not need fixing at all. Doesn't quite fit with the government-can't-do-anything-right talking point.

Then there's the Social Security Trust Fund, a nice hunk of change invested in Treasury securities that some conservatives don't want to pay back. The trust fund represents payroll taxes collected from workers and employers - taxes raised a quarter century ago to provide a cushion against the predicted stresses of an aging ...